


Shimmering, Warm and Bright

by Gilli_ann



Category: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-23 01:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6100315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilli_ann/pseuds/Gilli_ann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A madly-in-love moment on the mountain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shimmering, Warm and Bright

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Jack, Ennis and Brokeback Mountain belong to Annie Proulx, Diana Ossana, Larry McMurtry and Focus Features. I intend no disrespect and make no profit.
> 
> The fic title is borrowed from a Bel Canto song.

  


Ennis mounted up after breakfast to ride back to the sheep, a mumbled “see ya for supper” pushing past his tense lips. He averted his eyes, shying away from daylight Jack and the memory of what they’d been doing in the nighttime.

Nevertheless, Jack saw him off with a strange sense of peace and fulfillment expanding his heart, so big it felt fit to be bursting.

But duty called. The weather was sunny, and he planned to wash their pots and pans in the stream, would give the coffee mug a real good scrubbing. Then there was a big pile of wood to be chopped.

He gathered up the plates, pots and utensils and ambled down to the water. It rushed by, glittering in the early morning sun, reminding him of the rare but precious glints of joy and laughter in those brown eyes he couldn’t get enough of looking into.

He pulled off his boots and hiked up his jeans, wading bravely out into the icy water. He shivered.

“Think I can’t do this, huh? Think I can’t stand this friggin’ cold? Think I will shy away and struggle for shore soon as you do your fuckin’ level best to freeze my balls off? Turn my fingers and toes to icicles so I can’t feel a thing? Well, think again, bright eyes!” he told the water belligerently, setting his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.

Yes, he was a stayer. A bull rider. Inhospitable surroundings and sorry circumstances would not make him fold or run or quit. Wasn’t his whole miserable life in Lightning Flat proof enough of that? Jack wouldn’t yield till the race was run. He firmly stood his chilly riverbed ground, and started doing the chores.

The unexpected sound of hoof-beats made him look up from his half-crouching position, shading his eyes.

Ennis was sitting Cigar Butt right there on the bank. His rider was tense enough to make the sturdy horse fidget, tack jingling as he tossed his mane and sidestepped.

“Ennis?” Jack said in surprise. “Is anything wrong?”

“Uhhmn… no, Jack, I just…… remembered what I… wanted to...”

Ennis shook his head at himself in irritation, and swung down off the horse with practiced ease. He speedily pulled his boots off, dropping them on the grass, and left his hat right there to keep them company.

Next thing Jack knew, Ennis was splashing barefoot through the shallow water, coming straight up to him, knocking the black hat off his head to send it flying through the air. The gleam in Ennis’s eyes was unmistakable. He pulled Jack into a bold embrace.

Their lips met and locked, and their eyes closed. They melted together in the middle of the glacial stream, flowing into a kiss that grew deeper and stronger the longer it lasted. 

It seemed to Jack that they were free-falling into each other. It was like being swept along with the rushing stream, barely keeping afloat in tumultuous rapids, being rattled to the core.

Ennis’s hard lips and eager tongue, the taste and feel of his mouth – the grip of those strong hands, the push of his body against Jack’s - bright waters swirled round them, the stream bubbled and sang, playful morning breezes ruffled their hair and tugged at their shirts, sun poured down like a benediction from above, puffy white clouds swooped and danced in the clear blue sky, the mountain soared. Every force of nature joined in, all remade and fresh from the maker’s forge, spinning and twirling joyously around them.

One dizzyingly deep kiss led to another, led to many, smooth and sweet and delicious like hot chocolate on a winter’s night. They couldn’t seem to stop, were stepping on each other’s toes in the clear water as they rubbed up against each other, melding into one being, one body, reeling deliriously round its own axis. Never enough kisses, never enough.

At long last they had to resurface into reality, gasping, blushing, disoriented. They realized in confusion that the world still looked the same, even if it felt profoundly changed.

Ennis butted his head against Jack’s, a growl of affection passing between them. He loosened his hold and pulled himself free from Jack’s grasp. Shaking himself like a Blue Heeler coming out of water, he smiled a cheerful “see ya soon, bud”, and finally got going. The damn sheep would be bleating bad herder accusations for sure.

Jack watched him leave, euphoric and shaken and jelly-kneed. He recognized the sensation – the feeling of getting down off a bull after a winning ride. His feet couldn’t sense the sharp river gravel anymore. He sank down on his knees by the sandy bank, high mountain snowmelt lapping round his legs. A loving smile settled on his swollen lips. Dreamily, Jack sensed the sparkling water caressing his skin. It felt good, like a lover’s touch.

That’s how the world could be like, sometimes. Sometimes everything came together just right. He locked that certainty into his happy heart, safely and snugly, storing it for leaner times and troubled hours, should they ever happen to come his way again. He had something to go on, now. Shimmering, warm and bright.


End file.
